


Secrets Revealed

by taylorgibbs



Category: NCIS
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-27
Updated: 2009-12-27
Packaged: 2017-10-05 08:49:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taylorgibbs/pseuds/taylorgibbs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jenny has some things to tell Gibbs before it is too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Secrets Revealed

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Live Journal community Kinkfest July 3 prompt.

Jenny answered the door herself when Gibbs knocked, surprising him though it shouldn't have. She had called him, asked him to come by after work. She'd left the Navy Yard quickly and rumor had it that an agent had died and she was really broken up about it.

"Jen…" He said softly, taking in her appearance. Her hair was a little mussed, her casual blouse and chinos the smallest amount rumpled. She must have been lying down while she waited for him.

Something seemed off to him, and it wasn't the first time in recent weeks he'd been worried about her. Deeply worried. The spark had gone out of her eyes; the compassion that tempered her hardness was gone. He'd seen flashes of it, sure, but since The Frog's body had been found, she had been slowly collapsing inward. Maybe she did need someone to hate.

"Jethro. We have to talk."

He nodded and followed her into the den. She took a seat in a wing chair and motioned for him to sit nearby. He rested his arms on his knees, leaning forward and waiting for her to say whatever she had to get off her chest.

"Decker died. Heart attack."

Jethro absorbed that information, wondering how it directly affected her. "Good guy, good agent."

"He was," she agreed. "I'm going out to LA for his funeral, going to take Ziva and Tony along for my personal protection detail."

Now that was interesting. "Planning on me joining you?"

She shook her head. "That wouldn't be a good idea, Jethro." She drew in a deep breath, shuddering. Something was wrong with her. "I was thinking about mortality. Bill wasn't that old, Jethro."

He nodded, not daring to interrupt.

"And we have a lot unfinished between us. I wanted to tell you some things that are perhaps better left as secrets."

"Jenny? Is your time running out?"

She sucked in a shocked breath. "You've always been able to tell when I'm lying, Jethro. Would there be any point in me denying it?"

Even though he'd known, her saying it, admitting it, brought a whole new level of intensity to this night. "How bad, Jen?"

When she met his eyes, tears were slowly running down her face. She never let anyone in like she had him and this was quite possibly the first time she'd broken down since learning she was sick.

"Bad, Jethro. And getting worse. Painful, progressive, incurable, and fatal. I have a year, probably six months or less."

He strode the short distance between them and pulled her into his embrace. She could be the ice queen but nobody needed to go through this alone, and they'd had some damn good times together and a lot of history. "Ah, hell, Jenny," he whispered into her hair.

"Don't pity me. We got La Grenouille. I didn't fail."

Her words told the story. She had killed him, just as he'd suspected. He shouldn't have been disappointed, but he was. She'd let Tony be railroaded. "You won there, Jenny."

She looked up at him, her expression softening. "I haven't any right to ask this and I understand if you say no, but Jethro, would you stay with me, just for tonight. I go to LA tomorrow and it doesn't have to be intimate."

"It always was with us."

She nodded. At least she wasn't going to deny that. "Point taken. In spite of what could happen, would you stay with me tonight? The clock is winding down…"

He looked at her for a few long moments before nodding. "Not promising anything but me staying." He could always hold her until she fell asleep and then sleep on the floor or in a chair. Beat sleeping under the boat at could give her a few hours.

"Thank you." She stood, swaying slightly and he became more convinced than ever that this was a goodbye.

She led him to the bedroom in silence, where he watched her change into a silky nightgown and settle between the sheets. She wasn't coming on to him and that vulnerability awakened something inside him, a protectiveness he didn't know he still possessed.

As he arched into her, moving slowly, treating her with gentle hands and whispered phrases, she never stopped crying. It was only when they were done, when he'd brought her over the edge in a bittersweet climax that her tears trickled away into nothingness, her breathing becoming even and deep as she surrendered to sleep.

Only then did he allow himself a few moments to mourn what they could have had, if not for her pride and his damaged soul. He kissed her temple gently, knowing deep down inside that this was their final goodbye. In the morning, everything would change. She'd be back to being the cold director and he'd be the same old Gibbs, always alone.

"Tell Shannon and Kelly how much I love them, Jenny. And you guys watch out for each other."

With that, he gathered her close. He'd hold her until morning, until their lives wrenched them away from each other. For now, with her in his arms, he could pretend he was whole.


End file.
